


Shameless Flirting and Surprisingly Good Advice

by Patriceavril



Series: Blackdonald [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alcohol, Bonding, Canon Compliant, F/M, Family Drama, Family Issues, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Sharing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:21:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27384850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Patriceavril/pseuds/Patriceavril
Summary: Sirius Black and Mary Macdonald open up about why neither of them are excited for the summer holidays, then offer each other some frank advice. When they wind up together at a party over the summer, they find they've each taken the other's advice.Sort of a prequel to Shut Up, Black.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Mary Macdonald
Series: Blackdonald [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2104170
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Shameless Flirting and Surprisingly Good Advice

Sunday, June 13, 1976

Sirius pushed open the doors of the Entrance Hall and stepped outside, blinking against the bright sunlight. Students lay sprawled on the grass, enjoying the warmth of the day and the cloudless blue sky. The sound of their chatter and laughter carried across the lawn and reached Sirius’s ears, but he could summon none of their cheerfulness and excitement for the approaching summer holiday. Instead, he was filled with a restless, brooding dread, unable to think about going home without gritting his teeth and feeling a strong desire to punch something. Pulling a cigarette from his pocket, he lit it and inhaled slowly, savoring the familiar feeling of the smoke filling his lungs. As he smoked he set out across the lawn and headed for one of his favorite spots, a beech tree by the lake. He settled himself against the trunk of the tree and stretched his long legs out in front of him, taking another long drag on his cigarette. Only then did he notice that he was not the lone occupant of this spot.

“Macdonald,” Sirius said, glancing at her in surprise. Now that he knew she was here, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed sooner. She sat curled on the other side of the tree with her legs tucked underneath her and her wild curls pulled back into a messy ponytail. Her usually cheerful face was pale and tear-stained, and it took her a moment to register that Sirius had spoken to her.

“Oh,” Mary Macdonald said finally, shaking her head slightly as if to clear her thoughts. “Hi, Black.”

Sirius hesitated for a moment, then decided to throw caution to the wind. “You all right?” he asked, looking at her with concern. In the five years he had known her, this might be the only time he had seen her look truly upset. She rarely took anything seriously, typically handling a problem by laughing it off or simply shrugging and hoping the issue would work itself out. Today, however, she seemed unable to escape from whatever was weighing on her mind, and Sirius couldn’t help but feel intrigued in spite of himself.

Mary hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. “No, not really,” she said honestly, biting her lip.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sirius asked. 

She shook her head again. “No, not really,” she repeated with the barest hint of a smile.

“Fair enough,” Sirius replied, stubbing out his cigarette and lighting another one. He offered the pack to Mary, and after a moment’s hesitation, she took one and lit it. They smoked in silence for a few minutes, watching a pair of first years skipping rocks on the lake. Finally, Mary broke the silence.

“How come you’re out here all alone? Where’s your other half?” she asked, brushing a stray curl out of her face.

Sirius smiled despite his foul mood. “James is back in the dormitory packing. Peter and Remus are too. I should be as well, but I just can’t seem to find the motivation to actually do it.” 

She looked at him quizzically. “Why do I get the feeling you’re even less excited about going home for the holidays than I am?” 

“Because I’d rather live in a cardboard box than be forced to live under the same roof as the miserable arseholes I have the misfortune of calling my parents,” Sirius replied.

She widened her eyes. “Bloody hell, tell me how you really feel.”

Sirius shrugged. “When do I ever beat around the bush? My parents are bloody terrible people, and we haven’t really agreed on anything since I got sorted into Gryffindor, so I just can’t see this summer being much fun.” He raised his eyebrows at her. “What about you? Are your parents as lovely as mine?”

She took a long drag on her cigarette and exhaled it slowly, staring out at the lake as she thought about how to respond. “It’s just me and mum,” she answered after some consideration. “And whichever new bloke she’s convinced is going to be different than all the rest.” She smiled wryly. “She’s, well, I’ll put it this way, she could drink you under the table any day of the week, and I’ve seen you drink, so I don’t say that lightly.” She toyed with a lock of hair, wrapping it around and around her finger. “It’s just, I’d rather be here, that’s all.”

Sirius listened without interrupting, his face registering neither surprise nor judgement. Somehow his attentive silence drew her out and encouraged her to keep sharing. 

“It’s not just going home. Something, er, something happened.” She paused, steeling herself, then continued, “Mulciber…” She got no further than this, almost choking on the name as her eyes took on a terrified, haunted look. She took several deep breaths, then a long drag in the cigarette, unable to meet Sirius’s eye. 

“It’s all right,” Sirius said, sensing her obvious distress and regretting the inquiry that had prompted it. “You don’t have to talk about it. It’s none of my business anyway.”

“Thanks,” she said gratefully, traces of panic still lurking in her dark eyes.

“Have you talked to Evans about this? Or Stebbins?” Sirius asked. 

She sighed. “Lily knows what happened, but I don’t like to bother her too much, not when she has her own problems to get on with.” When Sirius looked at her in confusion she explained, “She and Snape aren’t friends anymore after what he called her in front of everyone, and she’s taking it hard.” Correctly reading the expression on Sirius’s face, she continued, “I know, I know, I don’t consider it much of a loss either, but he was her best friend, and she’s pretty upset about it.”

Sirius could not fathom feeling anything but loathing for Snape, but he supposed he and Evans would just have to agree to disagree on that topic. “But what about Stebbins?” he persisted. “Forgive me my ignorance, as I’ve never had a boyfriend myself, but isn’t that one of the supposed benefits - having someone to talk to about your problems, sort of a built-in shoulder to cry on?”

She sighed again and stubbed out her cigarette. “You’re right, but for whatever reason I just haven’t felt like talking to him. I feel like he doesn’t care to know how I’m feeling or what I’m going through, but I don’t know if that’s actually true. I guess it’s more my problem - I have no desire to discuss this with him because I can’t see how it would make me feel any better.” She frowned. “Does that make sense?”

Sirius shrugged. “Sure. It makes you wonder though, doesn’t it?”

“Wonder about what?” she asked.

Sirius looked sideways at her, shaking his long hair out of his eyes. “Don’t take this the wrong way, because I know I tell you at least once a week to dump Stebbins and have a go with me instead, and for the record I still firmly believe that is an excellent course of action, but I’m saying this as an unbiased, completely neutral third party. Anyway, I was just thinking, if you don’t think telling your boyfriend what you’re going through will help you feel better, then why are you with him in the first place?”

He expected her to argue, to defend her relationship as she always did, but instead she simply sat there, twirling her hair around her finger.. Finally, she laughed and said, “You know, I don’t even know anymore. I suppose because I don’t have a good reason to stop dating him.”

Sirius said nothing, but merely looked at her pointedly.

“I suppose that’s kind of a rubbish reason to stay with someone, isn’t it?” she mused.

“You said it, not me,” he said, pulling another cigarette from his pack and lighting it before offering one to Mary. “As for the other bit, well, it’s probably good that you didn’t tell me the whole story,” he continued, his tone turning dark and his face hardening, “because I’d probably hunt Mulciber down and hex the fuck of him - I mean, bloody hell, I’ve been known to hex people for singing too loudly. I’ve already been in rather a lot of trouble this year, though, so I suppose it’s for the best.” He took a drag on his cigarette and blew out the smoke in a long, slow stream, watching it dissipate into the air. “I prefer to handle problems that way - with my wand, or my fists, depending on my mood.” He raised his eyebrows at her. “You ever punched anyone?”  
She laughed and shook her head. “Can’t say that I have,” she admitted, taking a drag on her cigarette and then grinning at Sirius.

“Well, I highly recommend it,” Sirius said, glancing down at several scars on his knuckles.

“Who have you punched?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Just a few people here and there,” he replied, waving the question away. “I think Avery was the first bloke I ever punched at Hogwarts.” A look of satisfaction spread over his face as the memory filled his head. “It was during our second year. I can’t remember what he did, but I can remember how angry it made me - isn’t that funny?” He paused for a moment. “No, wait, I remember, he said something horrible to Remus, so I drew my wand on him, and I think I got him with one good hex, but then I was too angry to block properly, so he disarmed me.”

“So you punched him?” she asked incredulously.

“Well, yeah, what else was I supposed to do?” Sirius asked. “I couldn’t let him off that easy,

he was being a real prat.” He shrugged. “I’ve punched a fair few walls, too. It’s not nearly as satisfying, but it gets the job done, and you don’t get in quite as much trouble.” He watched her for a moment before continuing. “That’s not exactly your style though, is it?”

“Not really, no,” she agreed, stubbing out her second cigarette and rearranging herself so that she lay flat on the ground, staring up at the branches of the beech tree.

“So I suppose what I would do then, if punching and hexing are out of the question, is just say fuck it. Don’t spare another bloody second letting whatever Mulciber did bother you. Because he’s not worth it. He’s the fucking scum of the earth, and you’re worth twelve of him, Macdonald.” He tugged one of her curls gently. “All right?”

She pushed herself upright and turned to face him, smiling. “Yeah, all right. Thanks, Black.” She considered for a moment, then said, “You know, I think you should take your own advice.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, frowning.

“About your parents,” she explained. “I mean, you’re top of our year - they should be bloody proud to have a son like you, even if you do cause a bit of trouble, and if they can’t accept that you’re in Gryffindor, which is far better than Slytherin anyway, then you didn’t inherit your brains from them, because they’re idiots.”

Sirius laughed.

“I say fuck it. Fuck them,” she continued. “I mean, I know it must be hard, because, well, they’re your parents, but sometimes your real family ends up being people you’re not actually related to, you know?”

Sirius thought of all the detentions he and James had spent talking through the two-way mirrors, laughing and joking with each other, then hastily hiding the mirrors so their professors wouldn’t see. He thought of Mr. and Mrs. Potter and the look of joy on their faces last Christmas as he unwrapped the motorbike poster they had bought for him at a Muggle shop. He thought of the first full moon he had spent with his three friends, the sense of excitement and fear and the shared secret that united them. He thought of all the time they had spent visiting Remus in the hospital wing the day after a full moon, to bring him candy or catch him up on what he’d missed in class or just sit and keep him company if he wasn’t feeling up to anything else. 

“Shit, Macdonald. You’re right,” Sirius said, feeling lighter and happier than he had in days. “You give surprisingly good advice, for someone who has such horrible taste in men.”

“Oh, shut up,” she replied, slapping him playfully on the arm. “Stebbins is all right, really he is.”

“I’m sure he is, if you’re into short, ginger, Hufflepuff gits.” He smirked at her. “He has a huge knob, doesn’t he? He must, otherwise I can’t see the appeal.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be a pig, Black.” After a moment she flashed him a sly smile and added, “It’s not small.”

Sirius laughed, then stood and stretched. “I suppose I’ll head back to the castle. Can’t put off packing forever.” He offered her a hand up and she took it, straightening and brushing grass off her clothes.

“I feel like I’ve met my quota for talking about my feelings for at least the next year,” Mary admitted as they ambled along the lake back towards the castle.

“Me too,” Sirius agreed. “What do you say we limit our conversation strictly to shameless flirting and making fun of Stebbins for a while?”

Mary grinned. “Sounds great.”

“Hey, James and I are going to have a party this summer at some point when his parents go away on holiday,” Sirius said suddenly. “You should come.” He thought for a minute, then added, “Bring girls.” He glanced sideways at her. “Don’t bring Stebbins.”

“Yeah, all right,” she agreed, feeling excited about the prospect of the summer holiday for the first time in years. 

Saturday, August 7, 1976

Sirius lay sprawled in a lounge chair, watching the fairy lights that surrounded the Potters’ pool twinkling against the dark evening sky. Music and laughter drifted out from inside the house, but he felt miles away from it all. He took a sip of his drink, enjoying the warmth of the firewhisky and the buzz that softened the edges of his thoughts and made him feel languid and content. 

“Should we join the rest of the party, d’you think?” Mary asked, looking over at Sirius from her own lounge chair and breaking his reverie. “Are we being a bit rude?”

“Nah,” Sirius replied, unscrewing his flask and tipping some liquor into her cup when he noticed it was empty. “They won’t miss us. We’ll go back eventually, but it’s rather peaceful out here, isn’t it?”

She nodded, shivering as the evening breeze tugged at her hair and raised goosebumps on her bare skin. “This house is brilliant. Of course, my mum’s flat would fit inside the Potters’ parlor, so I suppose I’d be impressed by just about anything.”

“It is pretty impressive,” Sirius agreed, removing the towel draped over his shoulders and tossing it to Mary. “Here, you look cold.”

“Thanks,” she said, tucking it around herself. “I don’t see why you didn’t think to mention that the Potters have a pool. I would have brought a swimsuit.” She gestured at herself, a rueful smile spreading across her face; underneath the double layer of towels, she wore only damp undergarments.

“I didn’t mention it because if I did you would have brought a swimsuit,” Sirius replied, smirking at her. 

“You’re a prat,” she muttered, but she looked pleased. “Well, thanks again for the invite, even if you did leave me no choice but to go swimming in my knickers.”

“My pleasure.” Sirius pulled his trousers from the heap of clothes piled by his chair and slid his cigarettes from one of the pockets, lighting one before offering the pack to Mary. She accepted one with a muttered “Cheers” and lit it, inhaling deeply and enjoying the combination of nicotine and alcohol. They sat in silence, smoking and watching moths fluttering around the fairy lights. 

“So you’ve ditched Stebbins,” Sirius said after a minute, breaking the silence.

“I’ve ditched Stebbins,” she confirmed, watching the fairy lights reflecting on the surface of the massive pool. Someone shouted from inside the house, but the sound was faint and distant, as if the party were happening miles away. 

“You took my advice,” Sirius continued, dropping his cigarette butt into an empty butterbeer bottle before folding his hands behind his head and slouching down even further in his chair.

“I suppose I did,” she agreed, taking one last drag on her cigarette before dropping it in the bottle on top of Sirius’s and pulling her towel tighter around herself. 

“I’m glad,” Sirius commented, glancing at her.

“Me too.” They sat without speaking for a few more minutes, listening to someone (probably James) singing along to the music loudly and rather off-key. When the conversation resumed again, this time it was Mary’s turn to break the silence.

“So you’ve moved in here,” she observed, turning to him.

“I’ve moved in here,” he repeated. “I suppose I took your advice, as well.”

“About your parents?” she asked.

He nodded, shaking his long hair out of his face. “I told them to go to hell, and I left and won’t be going back.” He grinned at her. “I did punch a hole in the wall before I left - couldn’t help myself.”

“Course you did,” she said, noticing his eyes crinkling slightly when he smiled. “Did it make you feel better?”

He considered this for a moment. “A bit. And then James and I finished off a bottle of his dad’s firewhisky, and that helped too.”

“It usually does,” she said, draining her cup as if to illustrate her point. “Well, good for you. You seem happy here.”

“Yeah, I am.” He finished his own drink, then gazed up at the vast expanse of sky dotted with stars. “Look,” he said, pointing up at a particularly bright star. “That’s Sirius. And hang on…” He searched the sky for a moment before pointing to a cluster of stars. “There’s Orion’s Belt.”

“Really?” she said, impressed.

He laughed. “No bloody idea. Astronomy is my worst subject - I can’t be bothered. But you believed me because the Blacks like to name people after stars.” He rolled his eyes. “Fucking Orion, what kind of a name is that?”

“It is a bit over-the-top,” she agreed. “But you can also be a bit over-the-top, so it rather suits you, I think.”  
“I suppose that’s fair,” Sirius conceded.

“You know, even if Astronomy is your worst subject, I bet you’re still better at it than I am,” Mary pointed out. “What did you get on the Astronomy O.W.L.?”

“Exceeds Expectations,” he said.   
“Merlin, I barely scraped an Acceptable,” she said, chuckling. “And that wasn’t my worst one, not even close. I got a bloody D on the History of Magic exam.”

“Well, you had, er, a lot going on,” Sirius said fairly.

“That, and the fact that I spent most of History of Magic passing notes back and forth with Stebbins instead of taking notes,” she admitted.

“I assumed you were doing that to keep yourselves from falling asleep,” Sirius said. “I consider passing notes in History of Magic to be a study strategy. I prefer tic tac toe myself, or sometimes hangman - believe it or not, Peter always chooses the dirtiest words.” He grinned. “Remus is the only one who ever takes notes in there, and we just share them or make copies when we need to study.”

She shook her head in admiring disbelief. “And I suppose you got an Outstanding, despite never taking any notes and spending all of class playing games?”

“Well, yeah, I did,” he said, sounding entirely unimpressed with this achievement. “I was listening while I played tic tac toe. I absorb information pretty well by just paying attention. I don’t really take notes in any classes, unless Remus is absent and it’s my turn to take notes for him.” He looked at her and shrugged, enjoying the way her full lips pursed in indignation.

“You’ll have to help me with homework this year, then,” she said. “I used to study with Stebbins, but since that’s no longer an option, and Lily is always busy doing prefect stuff, I might need you to share some of that knowledge that just magically absorbs into your brain.”

“All right,” he agreed. “And we can take study breaks to shag.”

She raised her eyebrows at him. “That’s a bit bold, don’t you think?”

He said nothing, but swung his long legs over the side of his chair and slid over to perch next to her. He reached over and pushed her hair back from her face, twining his fingers through her untidy curls as he leaned in and kissed her. She tasted of cigarettes and firewhisky and what he thought might be peppermint Bertie Botts, a combination that was not at all unpleasant. He felt her fingers running through his hair as she lightly traced the scar on his chest with her other hand, and his eyes drifted shut as he lost track of everything except the scent of her hair, the soft touch of her fingertips, the sensation of her lips on his. 

He pulled away first, untangling his hand from her hair and enjoying the slight tingling that still lingered on his lips. He smiled at her, noting her flushed cheeks and elevated breathing, and said, shrugging,“I’m a bold bloke.” With that pronouncement, he handed Mary her clothes, then stood and stretched before pulling on his trousers.

“I suppose we’d better go back and join the party,” he said, watching with some amusement as she struggled to wriggle into her tight jeans.

“Aren’t you going to put your shirt on?” she asked, pulling her own shirt over her head carefully so as not to further disarrange her already unruly hair.

He looked down at his naked torso, then shrugged. “Nah, no point, really. I assume I’d just end up taking it off later when I get a bit drunker. Shirtlessness is my preferred state of existence when I’m drunk, I dunno why.” 

Once she had finally succeeded in forcing her trainer onto her foot, Sirius draped an arm around her and they began to make their way slowly back to the house. 

“I’m glad you came, Macdonald,” Sirius said, pulling open the door and gesturing for her to go ahead.

“Me too,” she said, glancing over her shoulder at him and smiling at him before she stepped through the door and let the noise and energy of the party wash over her. 

“All right,” Sirius called, stepping through the door after Mary and glancing around the room for his friends. “Prongs, Moony, Wormtail, where are you tossers? Drop what you’re doing and come play Exploding Snap with me and Macdonald!”

Several hours, five rounds of Exploding Snap, and one drunken sing-along later, Mary drained the last drops from her cup and pulled Sirius towards her.

“Hey Black,” she murmured, the alcohol softening the edges of her words. “You have your own room here, yeah?”

“I do,” he confirmed, leaning in even closer so their faces were almost touching. “Would you like to see it?”

“You know, I think I would,” she said. “Lead the way.”

They set off for the staircase that led to the upstairs bedrooms, giggling and then shushing each other as they passed Peter and Bertha Jorkins snogging in the doorway of one of the spare bedrooms. When they reached Sirius’s room, he opened the door and pulled Mary in after him, then shut it behind them and leaned against it, grinning at her.

“Well, this is it,” he said, gesturing at the room, which was well-furnished but mostly undecorated except for a Chudley Cannons banner and a framed photograph of James and Sirius at the beach, both of them very sunburnt but laughing and waving at the camera.

“You make your bed?” she asked, surprised.

He laughed, then bounded across the room and launched himself onto the bed, messing up the perfectly-arranged pillows and comforter. “Nah, do I look like the sort of bloke who makes his bed? The house elves do it.” He sprawled out, resting his head against the many pillows, then patted the spot next to him to indicate that she should join him. “It’s a very comfortable bed. You should come try it out and see.”

She did so, stretching out on her side and resting her head on her hand. “You’re right,” she said, scooting a little closer to him. “It is very comfortable.”

Sirius closed the distance between them, pressing his lips to hers and wrapping his arms around her. She hooked a finger through one of his belt loops and pulled him closer, and he breathed in the scent of her shampoo and felt the warmth of her breath against his skin and thought how exactly right it felt, being together after so many months of fruitless flirting. 

When they broke apart, this time it was Mary to pull away first. 

“Wait,” she murmured, breathing hard. “Just hang on a second, yeah?”

“Do you want to stop?” Sirius asked, confused. “Sorry, I thought…”

“No, that’s not what I mean,” she said. “I just, er, I want to make sure we’re on the same page.”

“Macdonald, whatever page you’re on, I’m right there with you,” Sirius assured her. He kept his eyes locked on her, watching the rapid rise and fall of her chest and her long eyelashes fluttering as she blinked, and he found it almost impossible not to cut their conversation short and pick up back where they had left off.

“I just mean, I want to make sure you know I don’t want a relationship,” she persisted. “After being with Stebbins for so long, I just want to keep it casual, and I don’t want to give you the wrong idea if you were expecting more.” She eyed him nervously, her cheeks flushed.

Sirius stared at her for a moment, hardly daring to believe he’d heard correctly. “Macdonald, are you fucking serious?”

She smirked. “Well, yeah, I’d like to, that’s sort of the idea.”

Sirius laughed. “I can’t believe I didn’t think to make that joke.” He brushed a lock of hair out of her face and met her gaze. “Listen. I want nothing to do with a relationship. I’m far too selfish and emotionally volatile, and frankly, I don’t want the hassle and responsibility - I suppose I’m a bit lazy. So if that’s how you feel too, that’s absolutely brilliant, and we should have done this ages ago.”

“All right,” she breathed, looking relieved. “As long as you’re sure.”  
He grinned at her. “I’m 100% sure,” he said, before pulling her against him once more. 


End file.
